Revenue, gross profit up at Plant Health Care

Plant Health Care reported on a year of growth on Friday, with both revenue and gross profit up as it continued to expand and develop its product range.

The AIM-traded provider of patent-protected biological products to the agriculture sector saw revenue increase by 15% in constant currency and 9% in USD to $7.5m. It derived 60% of that revenue from proprietary sales of its Harpin and Myconate products.

Plant’s board said gross profit increased by 34% to $4.7m, with gross margin improving to 62% from 51% in 2014.

"2015 was a year of significant achievement for us in both our New Technology and Commercial business lines,” said Plant Health Care CEO Paul Schmidt.

“With respect to New Technology, which is focused on the discovery and early development of novel proprietary biological solutions using the group's PREtec platform (PREtec signifies Plant Response Elicitor technology), the four evaluation agreements we signed with major players for our Innatus 3G family of peptides indicate the potential benefits this technology can provide.”

Schmidt said that, in its Commercial division, sales of Harpin had increased at a 35% compound annual rate since 2013.

“The substantial 34% increase in Gross Profit reflected improved margins, largely driven by the increasing proportion of Harpin in our total sales.

“The achievement of a key registration approval in Brazil, the world's largest agricultural market, together with new and expanded distribution agreements signed in 2015 in the USA and EU will continue to drive sales growth in the future,” he explained.

Plant’s Biologicals arm remained at the forefront of agricultural evolution, Schmidt said, and the company was well-positioned to capitalise on the trend.

“We are increasingly confident that our PREtec platform technologies have blockbuster potential and expect to present further families of peptides to potential partners beginning in 2016.

“With the extensive experience and proven track record of our executive and management teams we look forward to advancing our strategic initiatives as we build upon our position as a leader in the agricultural biological marketplace,” Schmidt concluded.

After sustaining some losses in the morning, shares in Plant Health Care were up 1.9% in afternoon trading at 53.5p.